CBUAE and Central Bank of China meet to Enhance Renminbi Clearing in the UAE

Dubai, UAE, December 11, 2018: Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) today hosted a workshop with the People’s Bank of China (Central Bank of China) and the Agricultural Bank of China on “Improving the Renminbi Clearing in the UAE”.

The aim of the workshop is to present the results achieved by the RMB Clearing Centre to date, and to identify the actions to be taken to improve the arrangements for Renminbi clearing in the UAE.

This workshop is taking place almost a year and half after the official launch of the Renminbi Clearing Centre in the UAE (Dubai) on May 10, 2017. The Centre represents a major part of the efforts to foster further economic ties between China and the UAE. The importance of Renminbi Clearing has become increasingly important as the UAE and Chinese Government’s deepen their cooperation to further the 'Belt and Road Initiative' and work towards establishing sustainable trade and investment partnerships. The value of transactions cleared by the Center during the period January – November 2018 reached RMB 44.57 billion (US$ 7.01 billion). This represents a good achievement after only 17 months of operation of the Center; however, it is still low compared to the aspirations of the two countries in this area.

H.E. Mohamed Ali Bin Zayed Al Falasi, Deputy Governor of the CBUAE said: “we are taking this opportunity to signal our continued commitment to improving the Renminbi clearing arrangements in the UAE to further our trade and investment relationships with China”.

He also added “CBUAE remains committed to working closely with the People’s Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China to identify and implement measures to improve the RMB clearing Centre’s operations and broaden the use of the Centre in both countries”.

Mr. Wanfu Zhou, Secretary of the Board of Directors of Agricultural Bank of China “we are entering the new era with the Belt and Road Initiative, the bilateral economic and trade cooperation will move towards a higher level and the centre will provide a solid foundation for enhanced economic activity between our two countries going forward. In the future, ABC will further enhance its financial service capabilities in the UAE and offer full support to the RMB Clearing Centre, and actively participate and promote the development of the RMB market in the UAE.”

The event was attended by H.E Mohamed Ali Bin Zayed Al Falasi, Deputy Governor of the CBUAE, H.E Jian Ni, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China in the UAE, Ms. Yingli Huo, Director-General of Monetary Policy Department II at the People’s Bank of China, and Mr. Wanfu Zhou, Secretary of the Board of Directors of Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), in addition to senior representatives from both institutions and other organizations with important business partnerships in China, and by the UAE banking community.